Keefe, Bruyette & Woods Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA) Stock

LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA) had its price target upped by equities researchers at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from $325.00 to $390.00 in a research report issued on Friday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an “outperform” rating on the financial services provider’s stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods’ target price suggests a potential upside of 20.37% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently commented on the company. JMP Securities reiterated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $310.00 target price on shares of LPL Financial in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. StockNews.com upgraded LPL Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, November 9th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of LPL Financial from $310.00 to $390.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. TD Cowen raised shares of LPL Financial from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $277.00 to $413.00 in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Barclays increased their target price on LPL Financial from $311.00 to $378.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, LPL Financial has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $322.75.

LPL Financial Stock Performance

Shares of LPLA stock opened at $324.00 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $300.63 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $260.22. The firm has a market cap of $24.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.36, a P/E/G ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 0.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60, a quick ratio of 2.16 and a current ratio of 2.16. LPL Financial has a 52 week low of $187.19 and a 52 week high of $334.83.

LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The financial services provider reported $4.16 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.69 by $0.47. LPL Financial had a return on equity of 49.47% and a net margin of 8.73%. The firm had revenue of $3.11 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.04 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $3.74 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that LPL Financial will post 16.1 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at LPL Financial

In other news, Director Aneri Jambusaria sold 305 shares of LPL Financial stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $331.94, for a total transaction of $101,241.70. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 3,920 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,301,204.80. The trade was a 7.22 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 1.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On LPL Financial

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in LPLA. FMR LLC increased its stake in LPL Financial by 24.4% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,322,571 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $772,930,000 after acquiring an additional 650,675 shares during the last quarter. Southpoint Capital Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of LPL Financial by 50.0% during the third quarter. Southpoint Capital Advisors LP now owns 750,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $174,472,000 after buying an additional 250,000 shares during the last quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in LPL Financial by 9.9% during the 2nd quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC now owns 2,589,793 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $723,329,000 after acquiring an additional 233,242 shares during the period. Maverick Capital Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of LPL Financial by 82.0% in the third quarter. Maverick Capital Ltd. now owns 497,075 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $115,635,000 after purchasing an additional 223,931 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Azora Capital LP increased its position in shares of LPL Financial by 52.2% during the third quarter. Azora Capital LP now owns 643,544 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $149,708,000 after acquiring an additional 220,622 shares during the period. 95.66% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

LPL Financial Company Profile

LPL Financial Holdings Inc, together with its subsidiaries, provides an integrated platform of brokerage and investment advisory services to independent financial advisors and financial advisors at enterprises in the United States. Its brokerage offerings include variable and fixed annuities, mutual funds, equities, fixed income, alternative investments, retirement and 529 education savings plans, and insurance.